The exhilarating mood after the end of the final viva of 8th semester never ceased, as long as I was in college. Although, it suffered the hiccups of end of 4 years of masti and endless joy, of 4 years of unforgettable night outs with friends and beginning of the temporary emptiness that it would fill our life with, it was soothingly satisfying that after a grueling 4 years, around 50 end semester examinations, 100 internal assessments, quizzes and assignments, I was finally getting something that I didn’t deserve.
However, the entire joyful mood, the emotional outbursts of sanguinity and specially the feeling of getting 4 years older would come to an end in no time at all. The shrine of Badrinathji is on route that leads to college. And so it was decided that my parents will fetch me from college and also make a trip to the sacred mountains. I had earlier thought that it would be me who would be taking my parents to the temple, but unfortunately it was turning out to be the other way round.
However, persistent as I was, I tried to cajole my other out of the situation but was as usual countered by the time tested emotionally blackmailing lectures – Beta, mummy papa ke saath bhi time spend karo; bhagwan ke darshan mein kya burai hai and all. And then the rest is a legend repeated in my personal diary many a times.
After snaking for around 110 kms. in the Rocky Mountains at 20-30 kmph, we reached Karnaprayag in the evening and decided to call it a day. The panorama and the environment were obviously quite cool; they did nothing but fuel mom and dad’s desire to reach the shrine as soon as possible. Next day was equally gruel some and yet another 125 km stretch awaited us. After a steep vertical ascent of around 1200 m. Badrinathji awaited us. The path was rewarding though, breath taking beauty resided in every corner of the mountains and each turn presented an entirely new scene.
A lot of area has already been covered by Hydro-electric power companies – NTPC, NHPC, THDC and the Jaypee group. Alaknanda flowing beneath the mountain that we were moving on is their prime target. Ceaselessly, they are harnessing the flow of water to produce electricity (and in course they sometimes added to the beauty of the hills, especially for the perspective of an engineer). One hill that my driver specially mentioned was Hathi Mattha and no points (or pints) for guessing, it was shaped like an elephant’s body. The hill brought me face to face with yet another cruel reality; 4 years of graduation couldn’t fill me up with Imagineering. I couldn’t make the head or tail of the elephant. There was just a slight depression on the top after a almost perfect curve and then again a curve continued till the end of it. Perhaps I was more interested in finding a small temple somewhere on its periphery, because it is impossible to believe that Indian pundits/sadhus could leave a mountain without a shrine. But then, there was this harsh reality that the mountain was so rocky and steep, that even if a pundit could climb it, find a natural Ganeshji formation and color it on the hill (Yes, that’s how temples originate in India), there was no way that a common, not-so-near-to-god man like me could possibly find his was upwards. Poor pundits, I bet they would find some space on the foot of the hill in some time.
And yes, since the signals (of mobile network) were rare on the way, I kept receiving messages out of the blue from people who I couldn’t meet before leaving college and some others giving instructions on how to properly ask the God for something.
Anyways, it was quite hot at the shrine even though the altitude was more than 3 kms! After parking the car, we walked towards the temple. As always, there were more beggars, hawkers and pundits than tourists. Local shops were selling precious stones, gems, lockets, Prasad packets and small deities. A larger fraction of them were Vishnuji’s and his avatars’. I finally realized that this was Vishnuji’s shrine (Gosh! Why couldn’t these people fix one proper good name, they always create so much confusion). The queue was around a km long but thankfully dynamic in movement!!! While in queue I kept watching the snow clad tops of the surrounding mountains and their small glaciers giving way to small waterfalls and streams. A couple of smart gals came around and I shamelessly ogled (Didn’t Krishnaji flirt with all those gopis???)
I was getting frustrated when the line didn’t move for some time and gave my mom an annoying look, but she countered with a stern look that said – Keep-standing-no-matter-what! Inching towards the main temple, I got a better look of its architecture which was clearly ancient. And the carvings that I thought were like Khujraho caves were actually Lord Vishnu’s incarnations depicting his various earthly activities. It suddenly occurred to me that this entire procedure of asking the lord for something was at fault and will never be fruitful specially in front of someone whose greatest speech enlightens about karma and its importance. I felt like laughing on the irony but kept myself from it because any public lecture on this topic would supposedly be suicide!!!
We got inside the temple just in time before his holiness gates would be closed for lunch (He doesn’t have to eat if you look at him as a stone, neither does he have to do so is he is a god). The dynamic nature of the queue was inversely proportional to its distance from the temple and as soon as we got inside the temple, the pushing and pulling started. The main temple is of stone (as it should be) and one has to complete a loop while watching the lord. Quite believable as he was in front of me, spanning a huge throne, he was made of silver. What was more, the throne, the doors to his room and his surroundings were made of gold!!! But before I could somehow enjoy the beauty of the deity, a wave of push came from behind my back and I was rushed out of the temple. Laughingly, I watched the temple behind my back and saw that even the top of temple was of immaculate gold. Wow! This was definitely one opulent god.
As I was crossing Alaknanda on foot on my way back, I realized two things:
1. Vishnuji would need Z+ security to protect his silver and gold, and
2. I forgot to make a wish for something in front of him.
Reader Comments
Allow
Don't allow
Post date and time
Makes me Home Sick.
ReplyDelete